首尔政策

Environmental Policy of Seoul

Seoul Metropolitan Government, the host city of the ICLEI World Congress 2015, has joined the ICLEI network in 1995 and has been an active Member since then. Seoul is currently hosting the ICLEI East Asia Secretariat and Mayor Park Won-Soon serves as the chair of World Mayors Council on Climate Change (WMCCC). It is a leading city in the environmental policy area and promotes many innovative policies in the related field.

• One Less Nuclear Power Plant Initiative

Demonstrating strong international leadership in the fight against climate change, Seoul continues to be a leading example of a sustainable mega-city through various initiatives in their environmental policy. To address the challenges that the city is facing as the most densely populated city and the largest energy consumer of the country, Seoul is proactively planning to shift the city’s energy demands onto new and renewable sources. The cornerstone strategy of Seoul Metropolitan Government’s environmental policy is the One Less Nuclear Power Plant initiative. One Less Nuclear Power Plant aims to save energy equivalent to shutting down one nuclear power plant. The initiative will develop resources including solar power, combined with energy saving retrofitting, to lower energy consumption and cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent by 2030 (from 1990 levels).

Seoul has paired ambitious sustainability targets with a focused commitment to citizen engagement, earning accolades including the United Nations Public Service Award in 2013 for its innovation and responsiveness in public administration.

• Seoul’s Water Supply

Committed to delivering its vision of “Healthy, Tasty Water Loved by All Seoul Citizens” and providing the best quality, safe, and tasty tap water to the 10 million Seoulites, the Office of Waterworks at Seoul Metropolitan Government has set four specific goals for Arisu: ‘safe and tasty water production’, ‘stable and optimized water supply’, ‘convenient and smart maintenance’, and ‘international competitiveness through improved management and innovation.” In line with this, the policy of Arisu contributed to creating large-scale water production facilities, adopting indirect water supply system with expanded reservoirs to guarantee stable water supply free of outrages, and replacing old water pipes and adopting scientific water leak control mechanism to increase Seoul’s revenue water rate. It also introduced rigorous water quality management to ensure best quality of water in keeping with the global standards. The facility capacity of intake stations in Seoul is 7.12㎥/day, and the average intake per person is 3.25㎥/day. Of these, 230,000㎥/day (7.1%) is sourced from Paldang Lake, and 3.02㎥/day (92.9%) from Upper Jamsil area.

For the next step, Seoul focuses on upgrading the water supply system even further with the ‘Advanced Purification System.’ This system uses ozone and GCA (Granular activated carbon) to eliminate the unpleasant smell and taste in water as well as disinfection byproducts. The system was first introduced to Yeongdeungpo Arisu Center in 2010 and is expected to be adopted in all purification centers in Seoul by 2015.